Wrench.



G. SCHLAYER.

WRENCH.

L'FWAQO,

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 6, I916.

Patented Sept. 3,1918.

CHARLES SCI-ILAYER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WRENCH.

Application filed September 6, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SCHLAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches, of which the following is a specification, ref erence beinghad therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

My invention relates to wrenches and more particularly to a wrench wherein the jaws may be positively and accurately set to any point of adjustment of a predetermined scale to adapt the wrench for use upon pipes or nuts of different dimensions.

A wrench made in accordance with my invention is especially adapted to form part of the standard tool equipment for use in and about a particular mechanism, such as an automobile, wherein the nuts or pipes used are standardized, the scale of adjust- 'ments of the wrench coinciding with the different nuts or pipes used in the mechanism. By providing for adjustments of the wrench to secure only certain predetermined spacings of the jaws, stripping of the nuts and crushing or mutilation of pipes is prevented. The jaw construction of the wrench adapts it for use upon either hexagonal or square nuts, and the jaws under all conditions of use engage four faces of a hexagonal nut and substantially the whole surface of opposite faces of a square nut, so as to avoid any possi'bility of slight play between the jaws and the nut, resulting in such slippage as would result in stripping of the nut.

The wrench embodies a fixed jaw and a movable jaw which'is movable toward and from the fixed jaw under thecontrol of a rotatable disk in setting the wrench, the arrangement and construction of these parts being such as to relieve the reciprocatory jaw from excessive stresses, and have the greater stresses borne by the fixed jaw.

By pivotally mounting the movable jaw eccentrically of a rotatable disk, and by providing the fixed jaw with angularly arranged gripping areas and with a toothed portion extending at an angle to, and at one side of, said gripping areas, the disk may be turned in a manner to space the effective gripping areas of the movable jaw, different predetermined distances from the said gripping areas without varying materially the angular relation of the two jaws; or said disk may be moved in a manner to vary this Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

Serial No. 118,623.

angular relation so as to bring the gripping areas of the movable aw into the operative relation to the toothed portion, and to space the movable jaw different predetermined distances from said toothed portion without materially varying the angular relation of the movable jaw and said toothed portion. The disk above referred to is used not only to secure the desired movements of the movable jaw, but also as a means for insuring the desired spacings of the jaws in setting the wrench, and locking the jaws, in any position in which they may be set.

By pivotally mounting the movable jaw upon a rotatable disk, and providing the handle of the wrench with movable means for locking the disk with relation to the handle, or releasing said disk, this movable means may be located so as tobe convenient to the thumb when setting the jaw while allowing ample gripping capacity upon the handle to avoid accidental release of the disk when using the wrench.

The invention consists primarily in a wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, the grip oing area of which is presented away from the handle, a disk rotatably mounted in said handle, a jaw pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, and means whereby said disk may be locked in different positions; and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wrench embodying my invention, the wrench being shown applied to a hexagonal nut;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the head of the wrench applied to a pipe; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the rotatable disk, the locking means therefor and the ad jacent portions of the wrench.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings, a indicates the handle of an all metal wrench having a fixed jaw Z) at one end thereof having a gripping area or areas presented away from the handle. The gripping areas of the jaw b are angularly arranged, the angle of divergence of which is approximately 120 so as to permit said aw to engage adjoining sides of a hexagonal nut, while at the same time permitting the wrench to be used with square or other p0- lygonal nuts.

Mounted upon the handle a adjacent the fixed jaw b and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area thereof is a movable jaw 0 also having angularly arranged gripping areas, with substantially the same degree of divergence as the areas of the jaw b. To adapt the wrench for use upon pipes or other cylindrical bodies, I form the gripping areas of the jaw o of a plurality of teeth or serrations, such as are ordinarily used in pipe wrenches.

The movable jaw 0 is pivotally mounted eocentrically of a disk (Z rotatably mounted in a circular opening cl in an enlarged or swelled portion 0; of the handle a, the shank c of the jaw 0 being bifurcated so as to straddle the jaw Z) and handle a, and thus hold the disk cl against lateral displacement. The pivot 0 passes through both arms of the shank c and the disk cl. The periphery of the disk cl has a sequence of stops thereabout, the spacing of these stops determining the different dimensions for which the jaws may be set for use upon either a nut or a pipe. The handle a is provided with means cooperating with said stops whereby the disk 02 and the movable jaw 0 may be locked in any set position.

In the form of the invention shown in the drawings, the stops above referred to consist of two series of sockets 'f, the former of which are used in securing adjustment of the jaw c for different sizes of nuts, and the latter in securing such adjustment for pipes of different diameters. The cooperating locking means comprises a pin g slidably mounted in the handle a and having a close fit with the several sockets of the series and f, said pin being pointed to secure sufiicient wedging action to facilitate accurate setting of said disk (Z and its jaw 0. The pin 9 is carried by a spring pressed trigger it mounted in lugs upon the handle a, the enlarged outer end thereof being loosely mount ed in said trigger in order to compensate for the are described by said trigger as it moves in either direction, by means of the keeper plate h. The spring acting on said trigger is indicated at if.

The jaw 6 adjacent its gripping areas as indicated at Z) is of greater breadth than the handle a, being of substantially the same breadth as the jaw 0 so that when the wrench is used upon a nut, the shank 0 will engage the edges of the portion 2') of the jaw b in a manner to relieve the pivot e from excessive stresses irrespective of the dimension for which the said jaw 0 is set, since a substantially parallel movement of said aw is secured by reason of the simultaneous rotary movement of said disk 03 and of the jaw 0 about the pivot e.

Extending at an angle from one edge of the jaw b is a serrated or toothed gripping surface 2', this surface being spaced away from the axis of the disk cl sufficiently to cause the positioning of the disk d to permit the engagement of the pin g. with any of the sockets f to bring the jaw 0 into the proper relation to said surface 2' to secure the desired gripping and ratchet action with relation to a pipe, or other similar object.

lVhen the wrench is to be used upon or about an automobile, I provide the end of the handle a with a narrow, circular extension j to be used as a'key in opening and closing gas tanks. This construction is highly effective since the jaw 0 maybe swung later ally of the handle a in a manner to permit it to be used as a lever handle by means of which screw caps, or valves, may be set hard, or readily opened irrespective of their condition. The key j is designed to be used in lieu of a coin.

The operation of the herein described wrench is substantially as follows:

lVhen it is desired to use the wrench upon a nut, the jaw c is turned about the pivot 6 until it comes to rest upon the edges of the ext-ended portion b of the jaw b. The trigger h is then depressed, disengaging the pin 9 from one of its cooperating sockets 7 or f and permitting the disk (Z to be turned in either direction. By merely pulling the jaw c outwardly of the handle a, or pushing it toward said handle, the disk (Z will be caused to turn, thus varying the spacing between the jaws Z) and c, the jaw 0 having a substantially rectilineal movement by reason of the simultaneous rotary movements of the disk (Z, and the jaw about the pivot e.

lVhen the jaw 0 has been set as desired, the trigger it is released and the pin g will enter one of the sockets f and prevent further rotary movement of the disk (Z in either direction.

The jaws may either be set upon the nut, or may be slipped over the nut after being set. If the wrench be used upon a hexagonal nut, the angularity of the jaws b and c, as to their gripping areas, will result in the simultaneous engagement of four faces of the nut, and hence slight play between the wrench and the nut cannot cause the stresses to be applied to the corners of the latter in a manner to permit sufficient slippage to cause stripping of said corners. This angularity of the jaws also results in the greater stresses being applied by the fixed aw, in a manner to relieve the pivot of the movable jaw from excessive shearing strains, the engagement of said jaw with the shoulders upon the edges of the portion 5 assisting in preventing the transmission of such excessive stresses to said pivot.

When it is desired to use the wrench as a pipe wrench, the trigger it is actuated to release the disk d and the jaw c is swung outwardly from the handle a, so as to bring the gripping areas into the desired relation to the surface 73. In setting the wrench to a given diameter, the disk is turned so as to bring some one of the series f of the sockets where it can be engaged by the pin g, thus insuring the proper angular relation of the jaw a to the handle a and surface 2'. By swinging the jaw c away from the jaw b and surface 2', said jaw may be readily slipped over the pipe or other circular obj ect, which may thereafter be brought toward the surface 2', with said jaw 0 to secure the desired clamping action. This movement of the jaw 0 toward and away from the surface 2', also secures the desired ratchet-like action of the wrench for securing succeeding bites upon the object.

In setting the wrench to a pipe or other circular object of a given diameter, the trig ger h is released when the jaw 0 has been set thus causing the pin 9 to enter one of the sockets f and prevent further rotary movement of the disk at as when setting the jaw 0 for a given size of nut.

It will be observed that a wrench made in accordance with my invention can be set to secure only certain predetermined spacings of the jaws as determined by the spacings of the sockets of each series f or f with relation to each other, and that the arrangement and formation of the jaws is such as to compensate for any slight play between them and the object to which they are applied.

In the drawings, I have shown a wrench especially adapted for use upon hexagonal nuts, but it is apparent that it may be used efi'ectively upon square or other polygonal nuts, although if desired the angle of the jaws may be varied to adapt the wrench to different shapes of nuts. It is also apparent that the operative range of different wrenches may be varied or that an increased range of any wrench may be secured by increasing the diameter of the disk J as compared with the showing of the drawings.

The manner of using the key j is apparent from the foregoing description.

While it is desirable to embody in a single structure those features which adapt the wrench for use upon both nuts and pipes or other circular objects, nevertheless it is apparent that a wrench adapted for use upon either nuts, or pipes or other circular objects may be made by the mere omission of those structural characteristics of the fixed jaw which adapt it for engagement with nuts or the omission of the surface 71 and a corresponding modification of the disk d.

It is also to be observed that when the It is not my intention to limit the invention to the details of construction shown .in the accompanying drawings, it being apparent that such details may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is 1. A wrench embodying therein a handle. a fixed thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from the handle, a disk rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, and means whereby said disk may be locked in different positions.

2. A wrench embodying therein a handle,

a fixed jaw thereon, the gripping area of,

which is presented away from the handle, a serrated or toothed surface carried by said handle and projecting at an angle from one edge of said jaw, a disk rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw pivotally mounted eccen'trically of said disk, and adapted to bepositioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, and means whereby the angular relation of said mow able jaw and said handle may be varied and said disk may be locked in different positions.

3. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw having angularly diverging areas thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from. the handle, a disk rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw having angularly diverging gripping areas pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk, and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, and means whereby said disk may be locked in different positions.

4. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw having angularly diverging gripping areas presented away from said handle, a serrated or toothed surface carried by said handle and projecting at an angle from one edge of said j aw, a disk rotatably mounted in said handle, a removable .j aw having angularly diverging, serrated or toothed gripping areas pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping areas of said fixed jaw, and means whereby the angular relation ofsaid movable jaw and said handle may be varied and said disk may be locked in different positions.

5. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from the handle, a disk having a sequence of sockets about the periphery thereof, rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk, and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, a pin mounted in said handle adjacent said disk and adapted to enter said sockets respectively to lock said disk in different positions, and means whereby said pin may be withdrawn from or projected into said sockets.

6. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw having angular diverging gripping areas presented away from said handle, a disk having a sequence of sockets about the periphery thereof, rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw having angularly diverging gripping areas pivotally mounted eccentricdlly of said disk and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping areas of said fixed aw, a pin mounted in said handle adjacent said disk and adapted to enter said sockets respectively to lock said disk in different positions, and means whereby said pin may be withdrawn from or projected into said sockets. 7. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from the handle, a disk having a sequence of sockets about the periphery thereof, rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, a pin mounted in said handle adjacent said disk and adapted to enter said sockets respectively to lock said disk in different positions, and a spring actuated trigger mechanism, said pin being loosely mounted in said trigger mechanism.

8. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw having angularly diverging gripping areas presented away from said handle, a disk having a sequence of sockets about the periphery thereof, rotatably mounted in said handle, a movable jaw having angularly diverging gripping areas pivotally mounted eccentrically of said disk and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping areas of said fixed jaw, a pin Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eaoh, by addressing the Commissioner ef Patents,

Walnlnamd.

mounted in said handle adjacent said disk and adapted to enter said sockets respectively to lock said disk'in different positions, and a spring actuated trigger mecha nism, said pin being loosely mounted in said trigger mechanism.

J. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from the handle, a serrated or toothed surface carried by said handle and projecting at an angle from one edge of said aw, a movable jaw adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixed jaw, a support for said movable jaw movable substantially axially of said handle and transversely thereto, whereby said movable jaw may be spaced different distances from said fixed jaw or said surface and brought either into the operative relation to said fixed jaw or to said toothed or serrated surface, a pivotal connection between said movable jaw and said support and means whereby said support may be locked in different positions.

10. A wrench embodying therein a handle, a fixed jaw thereon, the gripping area of which is presented away from the handle, said jaw being broader than said handle whereby shoulders are formed at one side of said jaw, said handle having a circular opening therethrough, a disk rotatably mounted in said opening, a movable jaw having a bifurcated shank straddling said handle and said disk, and adapted to be positioned beyond the gripping area of said fixedjaw, a pivot passing through said shank and said disk eccentrically thereof whereby said movable jaw may be moved substantially rectilineally with the rotation of said disk with its shank in substantially continuous engagement with said shoulders, and means whereby said disk may be locked in different positions.

In witness whereof, I have hereuntoaffixed my signature this Slst day of August, 1916, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES SOHLAYER.

lVitnesses: V V

OLAnIoE FRANCE, F. T. Wnxrwonrr-r. 

